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They say bad luck comes in three’s. The automaker Stellantis already has two of them its belt, in the form of dismal sales and the sudden departure of CEO Carlos Tavares. Whether or not the third shoe drops remains to be seen. Stellantis is doing its best to make that not happen, with a one-two punch consisting of a new lithium-sulfur EV battery deal and a loan commitment of $7.5 billion from the US Department of Energy for a new lithium-ion battery factory.
What Is This Lithium-Sulfur EV Battery Of Which You Speak?
The lithium-sulfur EV battery of the future crossed the CleanTechnica radar in 2015, when we took note of new research under the umbrella of Drexel University in Pennsylvania.
“Lithium-sulfur batteries offer a potentially cheaper, more energy-dense alternative that could really bust the EV market wide open” CleanTechnica observed way back then, noting that the conventional lithium-ion EV battery is a relatively heavy, costly affair.
Since then, the cost of an Li-ion EV battery has dropped like a rock, edging closer to up-front price parity with internal combustion engines. Still, with many budget-conscious drivers still clinging to their aging gasmobiles, a game changing breakthrough in the cost of an EV battery could, and should, help motivate the holdouts to trade up to a zero emission ride.
The Lithium-Sulfur EV Battery Of The Future Is Here
The lithium-sulfur EV battery formula has been a tough nut to crack. Early attempts ran into both mechanical and chemical degradation obstacles. Nevertheless, science loves a challenge and investors are interested in the potential for replacing the expensive materials in conventional lithium-ion batteries with non-toxic, earth abundant substances like sulfur.
One of the startups persistently pursuing the lithium-sulfur formula is the US firm Lyten, which has engineered its EV battery on a drop-in basis compatible with Li-ion battery manufacturing systems. The company claims that the energy density of the battery enables up to 40% savings in weight compared to lithium-ion and 60% savings compared to lithium iron phosphate, while cutting costs (see more Lyten battery background here).
In May of this year the company began shipping battery samples out to US and European automakers for evaluation. Apparently they liked what they saw. Just a few months later, in October, Lyten announced a $1 billion stake in a new 10-gigaawatt lithium-sulfur EV battery factory to be constructed in Reno, Nevada.
Last month the company followed up with plans to launch a 200-meawatt facility in the San Leandro, California, leveraging equipment acquired from the battery maker Cuberg.
In a press statement, Lyten CEO and co-founder Dan Cook noted that the company’s customer pipeline has grown nine times over since the beginning of the year, with interest from the drone, defense, and micromobility sectors in addition to automakers.
“The speed of Lyten’s manufacturing expansion represents a timely move to assist the U.S. Department of Defense and the military services in complying with the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which mandates the acquisition of domestic batteries,” Cook explained.
Stellantis Wants New EV Battery, STAT (Well, By 2030)
That brings us up to the latest news from Stellantis. The company is a strategic investor in Lyten along with FedEx, Honeywell, and the Walbridge Group. They have also been hedging their bets with investments in other EV battery stakeholders, and they just made another one. On December 5, Stellantis announced a new joint development agreement with the Texas-based EV battery startup Zeta Energy, aimed at bringing a commercial-level lithium-sulfur EV battery to market by 2030 if not earlier.
“For customers, this means potentially a significantly lighter battery pack with the same usable energy as contemporary lithium-ion batteries, enabling greater range, improved handling and enhanced performance,” Stellantis emphasizes.
“Additionally, the technology has the potential to improve fast-charging speed by up to 50%, making EV ownership even more convenient. Lithium-sulfur batteries are expected to cost less than half the price per kWh of current lithium-ion batteries,” they add.
Here Comes Another New EV Battery Factory, Hopefully
That remains to be seen. Meanwhile, there are cars to be sold and Stellantis is not letting the lithium-ion EV battery grass grow under its feet. Earlier this week, the US Department of Energy let word drop that Stellantis has earned a conditional commitment for a loan totaling as much as $7.54 billion, in a joint venture with Samsung SDI under the name of StarPlus Energy.
The partners aim to construct least one, and potentially two, new lithium-ion battery factories in Kokomo, Indiana,
“At full capacity, the StarPlus project will produce about 67 GWh of batteries, enough to supply approximately 670,000 vehicles annually,” the Energy Department enthuses, emphasizing that the factories will “reduce America’s reliance on adversarial foreign nations like China.”
That, too, remains to be seen. One high profile member of the incoming administration, Vivek Ramaswamy, has already pledged to “scrutinize” the StarPlus loan in Indiana and the Rivian loan in Georgia under his forthcoming authority as co-leader of the new “DOGE” (Department of Government Efficiency”) advisory commission.
Both projects were conditionally approved by the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office in recent weeks. Before final approval is conferred, the projects must undergo a long process of tying up all the loose ends including legal, environmental, and financial issues as well as technical assessments.
Why Pick On the Loan Programs Office?
Auto industry observers have pointed out that all this scrutinizing just happens to fall upon two leading rivals seeking to wrest the EV sales crown from industry leader Tesla, whose CEO has also been tapped to co-lead DOGE. However, since when has conflict of interest ever bothered the incoming administration.
As a side note, it’s too late to scrutinize the LPO loan received by Tesla Motors. The company was one of the very first startups to benefit from an LPO loan. The office was established towards the end of the Bush administration, to support energy-related innovations in the national interest. The administrative setup was sorted out when former President Obama took office in 2009. Tesla soon caught the eye of LPO and the rest is history. A $465 million loan guarantee from the LPO in 2010 enabled Tesla to move forward with its manufacturing plans. In 2013, Tesla repaid the amount in full.
Stellantis should probably not count its EV battery chickens before they hatch. Neither should Rivian, for that matter. However, with thousands of jobs at stake along with billions in economic development potential, perhaps elected officials in the deep red Trump-voting states of Indiana and Georgia can convince the Trump administration to not bite the hands that fed them.
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Photo (cropped): Despite its current troubles, Stellantis is pushing forward with big EV battery plans including new lithium-sulfur technology and a new lithium-ion battery factory in Indiana (courtesy of Stellantis).
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